Inverted bell packer for concrete pipe



June 11, 1940. R. M. LA DUE INVERTED BELL PACKER FOR CONCRETE PIPE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 21, 1938 ATTORNEYS June 11, 1940. R M LA D E2,204,020

INVERTED BELL PACKER FOR CONCRETE PIPE Filed Nov. 21, 1958 2 Sheets-Shet2 INVENTOR.

BY d/M/ ATTORNEYS Patented June 11, 1940 T UNITED STATES PATENT INVERTEDBELL OFFICE Russell M. La Due, SiouxCity, Iowa.

Application November 21, 1938, SerialN0. 241,625 11 claims. (or. 25-36)T The object of myinvention is to provide a bell packer which can makebell and spigot pipe bell end up by the packer-head process with arotary packer head either of the roller or troweling type. To do this itis necessary to. provide such a bell packer to which. the loose materialcan be No; 1,159,515, which has now expired.

This same new type of packing elementflthat supplied to its materialrecesses from the inside instead of the outside as heretofore hasbeenthe case, when using the old bell packer mechanism owned by usandinvented by W. J. McCracken,

will pack the bell of: a bell and spigot pipe, will also pack the grooveof a tongue and groove pipe. This fact should be noted. There is nodifference except in the shape of the contour of the elements which mustconform to the type of pipe being made. l l

other mechanism as to have numerous advan- It is also my purpose toprovide a bell packer:

so constructed, mountedand. associated with T tages over bell packersof; the type. heretofore used which make the pipe bell end down andnecessitated the use of considerable machinery .flocated below the floorlevel. Thus it is my purpose by means of the present invention togreatly simplify and to considerable extenteliminate the mechanismheretofore required for operating bell packers of the old typementioned. It is theretime possible by means of the present structure toeliminate the necessity for locating any mechanism in a pit below thefloor. Thereby I make it possible to provide areadily portable apparatuswhich can be mounted on a trailer, .and transported from one point toanother and can be put, into eflicient operation without removing itfrom said trailer.

Irrespective of whether the apparatus is operated as a portable unit ora fixed plant unitythe :other purposes andobjects of my inventions areobtainable and equally important to the manufacturer. T

By arranging to make the pipe bell end up,

there is eliminated the necessity for tipping the mold andpipe overbefore stripping or removing 1 the mold. This has to, be done, whenthepipe is made bell end down, because the molds must be removed when thebell is up so that the green pipe can stand on. its spigot end andsupport itself without leaving an end ringor pallet under each pipe.This has saved buying hundreds of l pallets in each size and avoidsanextra handling of the entire output to retrieve the pallets. Thisadvantage must be maintained and therefore I desire to make the pipebell end up the same as they must be stripped. Also I eliminatedistortion which has heretofore been one of the common disadvantages inthe use of known bell packers. This distortion has arisen due to theslump resulting from the horizontal position the T pipe must. passthrough in tipping over the mold and new pipe. When the tipping iseliminated, a saving ineement can be, accomplished because a leaner mixcan be used and good quality maintained. ,When tipping is anticipated,it is nec essary to use a little richer mixture. Similarly, wheretipping is eliminated, itis possible to use more water. This isdesirable because machinemade pipe have heretofore been manufacturedfrom a plastic concrete somewhatfdrier than is ideal from the qualitystandpoint. A wetter mix can be. used on pipe that donot have to betipped over. The elimination of the tipping operation also reducesthenumber of cull pipe. There is labor saved. when tipping iseliminated. example, when the pipe is not tipped, the labor of one manonly is needed to haul the mold with the pipe encased to the curingroom. I-Ieretofore,

For T two men were required for this job. Molds with the packer headforming the barrel of the pipe.

.It also eliminates the mechanism necessary to stop and start the rotarymotion of l the bell packer after the bell is made but before the bellpacker is lowered. These are mechanical operations necessary when usingthe old style bell packer with the roller head, but are no longerrequired when using the new style inverted bell packer; covered by thisinvention.

With these and other objects in view, my invention: consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my'in-' verted bell packer, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained,as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich;

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a pipe making machine equipped withinverted bell packer embodying my invention, parts being shown insection and parts being omitted.

Fig. 2 is a top orplan view of the hopper forming part of the machine,parts being broken away.

the' line 3-3 of Figure 2 illustrating details of construction of thehopper and its operating gear, and illustrating the manner of mountingthe inverted bell packer head at the bottom of the hopper.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view through the inverted bell packerhead. I

Figure 5 is an inverted plan view of the bell packer head.

Figure 6 is a plan view of a-troweling type packer head that is used inthe machine when making small sizes.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the packer head shown in Figure 6.

However, I preferto use the roller packer head A, Figure I, when makingpipe 24" in size and larger. I g

The main frame of the machine is not shown in my drawings but it will ofcourse be understood that sucha frame is provided.

'In the drawings, the numeral I I), Figure 1,

indicates a turn-table supported by mechanism not illustrated andadapted to support the mold II. N The turn-table has two or moreopenings I2 through'it to'permit the passage of the roller type packerhead, or the troweling type packer head. I i

The turn table may be of a standard construction having two or moreopenings I2 and may beso mounted that it may be rotated so that whileonepipe is being packed, another may beremoved and anew mold put in itsplace on the table. v

I shall first describe-the; mechanism for raising and lowering androtatingthe rollerfpacker head and will then describe the details of theinverted bell packer head, which is primarily the subject of myinvention.

The roller-packer is indicated generally at A.

A centering pallet I3 is secured to the turn-table Ill in any suitableway. The centering pallet I3 has a central opening the size of the pipeto be made and of smaller diameter than that of the hole [2. Eachcentering pallet I3 is providedat its inner edge and on its upper sidewith a replaceable wear ring I 4.

Suitably mounted by means not here shown is a hopper C. The hopper C hasa central opening' I5a through which material is supplied to theinterior of the mold. Secured to the under side of the bottom of thehopper C in any suitable way is a ring pallet I6 having a centralopening, the diameter of which is less than that of the form II. Thering palletIfi has on its under surface adjacent its inner edge areplaceable Wearing ring I'I.

The hopper C may be raised and lowered by mechanism not shown. When inuse, itis lowered until the pallet ring I5 rests against the top of themold I I.

The hopper may be'locked in place by means not here shown and notpertinent to .the present invention.

'The packerhead A is mounted on the lower endof a vertical shaft I9.Theshaft is provided with longitudinal splines I96! It is slidsprockets25 and thence downwardly andare secured to discs 26 fixed on the shaft21. On the shaft 21 is a pinion 28 which meshes with a rack 29. The rack29 is connected with a stem 30 of the plunger, not shown, of an ordinaryhydraulic ram M. The ram is operated from an oil pump 32. A pipe 33extends from the pump outlet to a valve or control box 34 havingordinary valves of known construction operated by a lever 35. From thecontrol box 34, pipes 36 and 3'I lead to the upper and lower ends of thehydraulic ram 3|. A bypass pipe 38 is provided to permitoil to flow fromthe control box M back to the pump 32. When the pump 32 is operating,and by proper manipulation of'the handle 35, the hydraulic ram 3! may beoperated for actuating the rack 29 for raising and lowering the'shaftI9;

It will be understood that the roller packer head A is raised toposition where it will be out of the way when the mold I I is being putin pipe-making positionby turning the turn-table Ill and then is loweredto the position shown in Figure 1 before starting the packing of a pipe.1

Concrete is supplied to the hopper C and thus to the interior of themold and drops downto the roller head A in the mold for providingmaterial for the pipe. I

I shall next describe the mechanism for imparting rotations to theroller packer head or troweling packer head, Whichever is used.

In the gear casing 20, a beveled gear 39 is non rotatably mounted on theshaft I9 to permit vertical sliding movement of the shaftl The beveledgear 33 meshes with a beveled gear 40 on a shaft II. The shaft 4|extends to and is operatively associated with an ordinary changespeedgearing device 42. The change-speed gearing device is'actuated by ashaft 43 on which is a V-belt sheave 44 or other suitable gearing deviceadapted to be operated from any suitable source of power. It will, ofcourse, be understood that the shaft 43 may be operated in'any way andfrom any source of power available.

' The roller packer head shown on the lower end of the shaft I9 wherebythe packing operation is performed (except for the formation of thebell) is described as to structure and operation in the co-pending'application of Jay H. La Due heretofore referred to and need not befurther here described; except to note that it has the rollers 5|whereby the packing operation is effected. This roller packer head ispreferably used for pipev of 24 inches and'up in diameter. For smallersizes of pipe one may use a trowel type of pack er head B illustrated inFigures 6 and '7. The packer head B need not be further described exceptto say that it has the packing cheeks 52. which are the same in numberas the rollers 5| ofroller packer head A sometimes used with the machinein conjunction with my inverted bell packer.

I shall now describe my inverted bell packer which is a primary featureof my present invenl- Q Inverted bell' packer ;My inverted bell packeris indicated diagrammatically at?!) in Figure l and in greater detail inFigures 4 and 5. Since the bell packer head D is closely associated inits mounting and operation with the hopperC, I, shall first describe insomewhat greater detail the hopper C and; the inverted bell packerrotating means which is associated withthe'hopper.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, itwill be ob servedthat the hopper Chas abottom plate 53 in which are four holes 55 for guide 'shafts(notshown) used for mounting and keeping the hoper ro"er1 ositioned when inuse and when 1. I i 3 p p p y p "Ihehopper C with the attached invertedbell beingraised and lowered by mechanism (not secured a gear rim 63.

shown). At the rear of the hopper is a projecting case 555 for drivingpinion 56a. The annular hopper wall 51 rests on and is preferably weldedto the hopper bottom plate 53. The hopper bottom plate 53 has a centralopening 53 of proper size to permit clearance of the various parts.Detachably secured in the hopper and spaced above the bottom plate -3thereof is a top plate 59. This forms the ceiling of the en closure fordriven gear 63, and the bottom plate 5310mm the base for this enclosureand also the driving gear enclosure 56. Plates 53 and 59 have circularopeningsoi proper size to permit the passage of the packer heads A or B.The

hopper topplate 59 is detachably fastened in place by means of angularbrackets 6i or the like.

Between the bottom hopper plate 53 and the top hopper plate 59 ismounted a gear comprising a gear body and center ball race 6?. to whichis central opening 64 which is of smaller size than the openings 5% inthe top plate 59 and bottom p1ate 53 of the hopper. revolves on ballsheld between self and the topball race 65 to take the up thrust when thepacker head pulls through the inverted bell packer.

. The various gearing elements are so selected that the shaft l9 andgear 63 and gear body 62 aresynchronously rotated at the same number ofrevolutions per minute. i i

The inverted bell packer D is detachably supported from the gear body 62by means of bolts H3 and spacer sleeves 19 (Figure 3). v

I shall now describe in greater detail the inverted bell packer D. Itcomprises an annular core body 3i? shown in Figures 3 and 4, having at.its upper edge an annular outwardly extending flange 8| provided with adetachably wear band 82. The bell packer core Bl] isprovided atits loweredge with an inwardly extending flange 83. Detachably mounted on theoutside of thebell packer core it are the troweling or packing shoes 84,at the outer faces of which are inclined somewhat outwardly from theiradvancing ends as at Ma outwardly to their rear ends as at .8512. Theyare also beveled from bottom to top, being thickest at the top, for aportion of their length from the ends 842), as shown in Figure-5 and atthe left-hand side of Figure l. The packing shoes 84 are provided with afoot 85 to receive the bolts 86 by which they are detachably and rigidlysecured to the bell packer core 88.

Between the successive packing shoes 84, the

The gear body 62 has a} The gear body 62 it and the bottom ball race 56and it also has balls on top between ita more perfect pipe.

to permit the passage of the material for the bell end of l the pipe.

Operation packer Dand the rollerpacker head A, or packer head Bwhichever may be used, are raised. .A mold II is placed on theturn-table It with the bell-end up. The turn-table is moved to theproper position. Thepackerhead A or B and hopper C are loweredto thepositions shown in The handle 35 is manipulated to cause the hydraulicram 3| to slowly raise the rack 29 and thus-to raise the roller .packerhead A. The operation is continued until the main body of the pipe iscompleted and the roller packer. head enters the opening 89a in the bellpacker. it i It will be understood that the inverted bell packer D hasbeen rotating all the while but of course ineffectively. The parts areso arranged that the rollers 5| to thepacker head A (or the trowelingcheeks 52 of the packer head B) register with the openingsil'l of thebell packer during the rotary movement of these parts. Thus when thepacker head has entered the center opening 80a of the bell packer D, the

material in. the recesses of the packer head A or B passes through theregistered openings 81 of the inverted bell packer C whereupon it istroweled and packed by the packing shoes 84 of the bell packer forforming the wallsection of the bell of the pipe under construction; Whenthis operation is completed, the hopper with bell packer and the packerhead A are raised to clear mold H and the completed pipe encased in themold Il may be turned on theturntable ill to taking-01f position. Thisputs another mold in pipe-making position and these. operations are thenrepeated.

The advantages of an inverted bell packer of the kind herein describedto operate at.the top end of the mold will be clear from the foregoingstatement of objects and description of the structure. To summarizethem, the use of my invention eliminates all necessity for providingmechanism in a pit or the like below the floor which makes it possibleto move and operate the machine on a trailer so that it is portable andcan be moved and used easily right on the job. My present inventioneliminates the necessity for (1) tipping the mold before stripping it;of (2,) using excessive cement and too. dry amix for ideal quality; for(3) much superfiuous machinery, and for i) extra labor. It

also eliminates all distortion in shape and makes There is an advantagein providing the outer surfaces of the shoes 84 with both the radialoutpacking inclined plates and the vertical downpacking inclined plates.Consequently they pack the loose material delivered through the openingsin the wall 80 radially outward and vertically downward. The radialpacking action results in densely filling the bell section of the pipeand the down packing action improves the horizontal surface of the Hilsocket, and the inside corner of the socket of porting a mold, of thekind adapted for forming a bell end pipe, in position with the bell endup, a rotary packer head, means for rotating the rotary packer head andfor moving it upwardly through a mold, said packer head having aplurality of packing members, a bell packer head supported on themachine and adapted to be in the bell end of a mold, said bell packerhead having an annular vertical wall with circumferentially spacedpacking members thereon on the outside thereof, said wall havingopenings therethrough between the successive packing members foradmitting the passage of plastic material and means for rotating thebell packer head in synchronism with said first packer head and with thepacking members of the first packer head in registry with the openingsin the bell packer head.

2. A bell packer head for pipe making machines, said head having anannular vertical wall with packing members thereon on the outsidethereof, said wall having openings therethrough between the successivepacking members for thepassage of plastic material.

3. The combination of a bell packer head for pipe making machines, saidhead having an annular vertical wall with packing members thereon on theoutside thereof, said wall having openings therethrough between thesuccessive packing members for the passage of plastic material.

4. The combination of a bell packer head for pipe making machines, saidhead having an annular wall with packing members thereon on the outsidethereof, said wall having openings between the successive packingmembers for the passage of plastic material from the inside with meansfor cooperating with the bell packer head, said means comprising asecond packer head having packing members arranged in registry with theopenings and located inwardly therefrom.

5. The combination of a bell packer head for pipe making machines, saidhead having an annular wall with packing members thereon on the outsidethereof, said wall having openings between the successive packingmembers for the passage of plastic material from the inside with meansfor cooperating with the bell packer head, said means comprising asecond packer head having packing members arranged in registry with theopenings and located inwardly therefrom, and means for rotating thepacker heads synchronously.

6. The combination of a bell packer head for pipe making machines, saidhead having an annular vertical wall with packing members thereon on theoutside thereof, said wall having openings therethrough between thesuccessive packing'members for the passage of plastic material from theinside with means for cooperating with the bell packer head, said meanscomprising a second packer head having packing members arranged inregistry with the openings and located inwardly therefrom, means forrotating the packer heads synchronously, and means for supplyingplasticmaterial between the inside packer head and the outside bellpacker head.

7. The combination of a bell packer head having an annular wall withpacker members on the outside thereof and with openings between thesuccessive packer members with a second packer head having packingmembers, means for also moving the second packer head axially and intothe bell packer head to position where the packer members of the secondpacker head register with the openings in the first packer head.

8. In a packer head structure adapted to have a continuous supplyof'plastic material, the combination of a rotatable packer head havingan annular wall with spaced openings, packing members on the outside ofthe wall between the openings, a second packer head having a coveredcentral portion, wall section-like portions, packing members between andprojecting radially beyond said last-named portions and registering withsaid openings, means for synchronously rotating the packer heads, andmeans for maintaining a supply of plastic material on top of the secondpacker head so that material passes down between the packing members ofthe sec- 0nd packer head and is forced out through said I openings, anysurplus being carried through for future use, said structure havingmeans for actuating the second packer head lengthwise of its axis ofrotation.

9. The combination of a packer head having an annular wall, packingmembers thereon circumferentially spaced outside the wall, the wallhaving openings for the passage of material to be packed, locatedbetween the successive packing members, a second packer head arrangedinside the first packer head and provided with packing members inregister with said openings, means for synchronously rotating the packerheads and means for supplying material to be packed to the spacesbetween the packer heads.

10. The combination of a bell packer head for pipe making machines, saidhead having an annular wall with packing members thereon on the outsidethereof, said wall having openings therethrough between the successivepacking members for the passage of plastic material from the inside ofthe packer head.

11. In a pipe making machine, a bell packer head having an annularvertical wall provided with openings therethrough, packing members onthe outside of the wall, the outer surface of each member being inclinedhorizontally and also from the bottom outwardly and upwardly.

RUSSELL M. LA DUE.

